YATES PROTECTS GIRO LEAD AS VIVIANI TAKES FOURTH STAGE WIN

Simon Yates protected his 56-second Giro d'Italia lead as Elia Viviani enjoyed his fourth stage win of the race on Wednesday.

Mitchelton-Scott's Yates limited the expected damage in Tuesday's time trial, losing ground but retaining the lead, and promised to change his tactics and defend his advantage.

And that is what the British rider did on the 149-kilometre ride to Iseo, finishing comfortably within the leading pack, just one place behind challenger and reigning champion Tom Dumoulin on the same time.

The stage 17 victory instead belonged to Viviani, who looks to have sealed the purple jersey with a huge lead in the points classification, charging away from Sam Bennett in the rain to get this win.

Chris Froome remains fourth in the general classification, behind Domenico Pozzovivo, but the battle for the pink jersey, barring huge drama, looks to be between Yates and Dumoulin.

With just four stages to go, Yates is edging ever closer to a superb triumph.

VIVIANI TAKES HUGE STRIDE TOWARDS POINTS WIN

The flat nature of the stage invited numerous riders to try to pull clear, but none succeeded before Viviani, with the support of two Quick-Step Floors team-mates, made his move in the final 3km.

Although Bennett went with Viviani, he could not avoid being boxed in, finishing second in a congested pack.

"I had the legs but I just couldn't get out," an emotional Bennett told Eurosport. "It's just timing - I ran out of road. I put a lot into it."

Bennett slips a further 18 points behind Viviani and, with the gap now standing at 58, his hopes of taking a challenge to the wire look to be gone.